


Pretending Would Be Redundant

by Skye_Maxwell



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Confessions, Dorks in Love, Family Feels, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Prompt Fic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-20 07:17:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20671439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_Maxwell/pseuds/Skye_Maxwell
Summary: Nanako wants to play house with the boys.“Big Bro will be the daddy, Yosuke will be the mommy, and I’ll be the baby!”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lod/gifts).

“What do you wanna do today, Nanako-chan?” Yosuke asked, sitting across from her at the living room table. 

“I wanna play house!” she said, looking excitedly between Yosuke and her Big Bro. 

Souji was already thinking a few steps ahead and saw how this idea could easily go south, but Yosuke, who was always eager to please when it came to Nanako, readily agreed. 

“House? Sure thing! How do we play?” Yosuke asked. 

He hadn’t played house since he was little, but pretty much everyone made up their own rules for it anyways.

“Yay!” Nanako exclaimed, clapping her hands together in delight. “Big Bro will be the daddy, Yosuke will be the mommy, and I’ll be the baby!” 

“I’ll be the _ what _ now?” Yosuke blurted out, but when he looked to Souji for confirmation, he was adamantly staring at the TV, which was currently not turned on.

“You’re the mommy!” Nanako told him. “Ooh, I need to get some stuff from upstairs! I’ll be right back!” 

Before either of the boys could say anything more, she got up and ran upstairs, looking very intent. 

Yosuke whined, “Why do _ I _ have to be the mom?” 

“Maybe because I remind her more of her dad, since we’re related?” Souji provided mercifully. 

Yosuke sighed, “For some reason, I’m not convinced…”  
  
Souji pretended to puzzle over the question at hand, and then he said, “Maybe it’s because you’re the prettier one?” 

“Shut up!” Yosuke shouted, which only made Souji laugh. “Gah, I swear, as much as I love Nanako, if she comes down here holding a short skirt and a strawberry hair-tie, I might have to leave. A guy’s pride can only take so much.” 

“You still have pride left?” Souji asked, earning a punch to the arm. 

Luckily, Nanako’s costuming choices ended up being very limited. She brought down one of her dad’s neckties (his blue-grey one that didn’t get nearly as much attention as his red one), which Souji just wore loosely around his neck over his grey t-shirt. 

For Yosuke, she brought down a bracelet that she had made in school. It was made with big plastic beads in an array of pastels, and she was very proud of it. Yosuke was too honored to be mad about it, instead sporting it with pride, temporarily owning his role as the mother for Nanako’s sake and because he knew Souji wouldn’t judge him for doing whatever it took to make Nanako happy. 

The game progressed innocently enough, with Nanako directing them through a pretty average family morning. She had Yosuke pretend to cook (which Souji found hilarious, on principle) while Souji pretended to read the morning newspaper, beckoning Nanako over so he could sit her in his lap and pretend to read it to her, making up crazy news events and near-apocalyptic weather predictions. After they all ate breakfast at the table together, Nanako decided it was time for Daddy to get ready for work while Mommy packed his lunch and cleaned up the kitchen (which, again, Souji found hilarious, but he also found it really sweet that Yosuke was being such a good sport about it).

Souji straightened out his tie, packed up his invisible briefcase, and pocketed his invisible keys before heading to the door. 

“Goodbye, Nanako,” Souji said, bending down to give Nanako a big hug, which she enthusiastically returned. “I’ll be home before you know it.”

“Okay, Daddy! Have a good day at work!” 

“I will.”

“I love you, Daddy!” 

“I… I love you too.”

Souji knew they were just playing pretend, but his heart felt like it was about to burst; if it was up to him in that moment, he would skip out on work and never leave his family ever. 

“Hey! You better not leave without saying goodbye to me too!” Yosuke said, emerging from the kitchen with his hands on his hips. “And after I made you such a delicious, well-balanced breakfast! What an ingrate.”

Souji stood up and smirked at Yosuke. “Thank you for the delicious breakfast, Mommy. Goodbye.” 

Yosuke stuck his tongue out at him, which Souji returned, albeit more subtly. 

When Souji placed his hand on the door handle to leave, Nanako interrupted with, “No, that’s not how you do it!”

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Souji asked. 

“You can’t forget to tell Mommy you love her before you leave!” 

Souji looked a little embarrassed at that, but when Yosuke laughed, it sounded like a challenge. 

Looking Yosuke dead in the eyes, Souji deadpanned, “I love you.” 

Yosuke laughed even more, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “Super romantic, Partner! I can see how you won me over in the first place!” 

“Big Broooo! Say it like you _ mean _ it!” 

“Yeah, say it like you mean it, Big Bro!” Yosuke teased, increasing the challenge. 

Souji cleared his throat, blocked out the growing tension inside him for the singular moment it would take to get the words out, and looked Yosuke up and down once before saying softly, “I love you.” 

Yosuke’s grin slid off his face, and Souji could _ see _ the trails of goosebumps rise up on his arms. 

Nanako directed, “Now kiss goodbye!” 

Without a second thought, Yosuke surged forward, roughly pulling Souji to himself by his necktie and slamming his lips into Souji’s. 

Souji’s eyes went wide as Yosuke kissed him hard, not once but twice, with more force than their innocent game of house would have ever required. 

It took every ounce of his self-control to keep his eyelids from going heavy and falling shut—to not just dig his heels in and kiss Yosuke for all he was worth (which was a lot). Nanako was still there, after all, and even with the current state of Yosuke’s face being attached to his own, Yosuke still might not like it if he did that.

Souji vaguely heard Nanako’s cheers of approval in the background as Yosuke pulled away, his pretty eyelashes fluttering for a second before he appeared to come back to himself and started to panic. 

“You’re… gonna be late for work! Bye now!” Yosuke shouted, spinning Souji around and opening the door so he could push him out of it and then slamming it behind himself. 

Practically glowing with happiness, Nanako exclaimed, “Yay! This is so much fun!”

“Uhhh,” Yosuke said, looking down at Nanako and frantically looking for a reason to run away. “Um, oh no, it uh, looks like Daddy forgot his wallet,” Yosuke stuttered, conjuring up an invisible wallet in his hand. “Gotta give it to him before he drives illegally like a dirty criminal! Be right back!” 

“Okay!”

Yosuke quickly fled out the front door, nearly colliding with Souji, who hadn’t gone far. 

“Missed me already?”

“No! You forgot your wallet!” Yosuke countered, waving the fake wallet through the air. 

“Don’t miss me too much; I’ll be home by dinner. I promise.” 

“Drop the act already, man!” Yosuke demanded, but then he immediately turned sheepish without their game of house to hide behind. “Look, I’m sorry, okay?! I just got really into the whole house thing, and I forgot to, uh…”

“To not kiss me?”

“Yeah, that! I guess? Wait, no! I don’t know! Don’t put words in my mouth!”

“Okay,” Souji said patiently. “Then put words in your own mouth.”   
  
Less abrasively, Yosuke responded, “That wasn’t fair, you know, putting on that innocent little ‘I can only tell the truth’ voice of yours and saying you loved me.”

“The truth is always fair,” Souji said blankly, his gaze very obviously falling to Yosuke’s mouth as he touched his fingertips to his own lips, which still hurt from the initial impact of Yosuke’s fervent kiss. 

“What, are you saying you _ actually _ love me?” Yosuke asked defensively, crossing his arms, but even he couldn’t keep that up in light of what he’d just done and the very real feelings living inside his actions. 

Souji watched in awe as Yosuke uncrossed his arms, losing that hard edge in his eyes and looking vulnerable and maybe even a little hopeful.

Yosuke added on to his question, “In real life, and not like, pretend?” 

“Pretending to love you would be redundant,” Souji said, steadfastly returning Yosuke’s gaze. He clarified, “Redundant, because I already love you.”

“I know what redundant means!” Yosuke said exasperatedly before shyly stepping forward and mumbling toward the ground, “I love you too.”

Yosuke felt Souji lift his chin with the side of his index finger, and once he saw Souji’s soft smile up close, he was done for. 

Their lips came together again, gently and without pretense, and all thoughts of playing pretend faded away as they wrapped their arms around each other. 

“Daddy! You forgot the bento Mommy packed you! Oh…”

Nanako stood in the doorway peering up at the two boys she loved so much holding each other close, and she nearly dropped the invisible lunch box she was holding. 

“N-never mind!” she said, blushing and giggling and backing away. “We’ll drop it off for you later! Bye!” 

Even when Nanako shut the door, they could still hear her giggling gleefully. 

“Looks like we have some explaining to do,” Yosuke said, eyes still hazy despite Nanako’s interruption. 

“It might be uncomfortable at first, but it’s our duty, as her parents.” 

Rolling his eyes, Yosuke said, “You’re the worst husband I’ve ever had.” 

“First and worst; that’s me,” Souji joked, indicating he wanted to kiss more by tilting his head and leaning toward Yosuke. 

“First and best,” Yosuke said hoarsely, gladly taking the bait, and as they continued to kiss, he allowed himself to hope that one day house could be more than just a game of pretend for them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the prompt: “I’m sorry that I got way too into playing house and accidentally kissed you passionately.”  
This was just gonna be a ficlet in my Cream Puffs collection, but it turned out a little longer (and cuter) than expected, so I figured I'd post it separately.


	2. Bonus Unexpected Alternate Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lod: “Does the game of house require a certain level of kiss-force? Hahaha”  
Me: “The game would have only required a quick peck on the cheek. XD”  
lod: “Omg now I also want the alternative where Yu kisses Yosuke on the cheek and Yosuke has a massive internal freakout over it too :OOOO”  
Me, to self: Welp here we go

“Yeah, say it like you mean it, Big Bro!” Yosuke teased, finding it hilarious that Mr. Charming himself would struggle with _ this _ part of playing pretend and that even their precious Nanako wasn’t having it.

Yosuke expected some sort of snarky reply or at the very least a scathing look, but Souji’s teasing mood seemed to have disappeared, replaced by something far more focused and serious. He cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders a bit in that way he typically did when he was gearing up to say something important, and Yosuke grinned, ready to give a good laugh at Souji’s performance. 

Then, unexpectedly, Souji’s gaze roamed up and down Yosuke’s body as if evaluating him, and before Yosuke could decide what the heck _ that _ was for, Souji said softly, “I love you.” 

Yosuke felt like Souji’s words slapped the grin right off of his face. Two trails of goosebumps raced up his arms, and he briefly worried the sensations would meet inside his chest and cause some sort of violent combustion. 

Before Yosuke could even fully process what had just happened, Nanako exclaimed, “Now kiss goodbye!” 

Souji looked surprised, and then he didn’t, moving toward Yosuke slowly but surely. 

_Wait!_ Yosuke thought frantically, frozen in place. _Is he seriously about to kiss me?_ _He knows Nanako would forgive him for not playing along just once, right? Actually, no, he probably doesn’t know that. Wouldn’t it be weird to kiss me in front of her though? Wait, isn’t it weird to kiss your best friend, like in general?! Even when you’re playing house and you’re pretend-married and your pretend-kid tells you to? He did just say he loved me though, and it was definitely in his innocent little __‘I can only tell the truth’ voice… But come on, that couldn’t really be true, could it? Maybe I’m wrong, and that wasn’t his truth voice! Maybe I don’t know him as well as I think at all… Oh man, he’s still coming toward me, he really is gonna kiss me! What the hell am I supposed to do?! I can’t do anything that would upset Nanako. Maybe I should, I don’t know, let it happen? Yeah, one kiss probably won’t kill anyone. It’s just a game, after all. Except for the fact that he just said he LOVES me—_

Yosuke’s head was moving from side to side as if his gaze was chasing his frenzied thoughts back and forth, so Souji gently cupped Yosuke’s cheek, effectively holding him in place. 

Then Souji placed a light little peck against Yosuke’s other cheek, and then it was over. 

_ Oh, _ Yosuke thought as Souji quickly pulled away. 

He felt like he was having an out of body experience as he watched Souji turn away and then slip through the front door. 

Yosuke felt like he was supposed to be relieved now that Souji had left the room, but the warmth of his lips and fingertips remained burned into Yosuke’s cheeks, making it feel like Souji was still right there. 

Yosuke only had one thought now, but it held enough anxiety on its own to counter all of his racing thoughts from before: _ Why do I feel disappointed? _

Yosuke lifted both of his hands to his cheeks, his own light touch feeling harsh compared to how delicately Souji had held his face and kissed him. 

“Are you okay, Mommy?” Nanako asked, tugging on the hem on Yosuke’s shirt and looking up at him with concern. 

“Y-yeah,” Yosuke said distantly, slowly lowering his hands. 

“Are you sure?” Nanako asked, not looking convinced. 

Coming back down to earth, Yosuke shook his head and said, “No.” 

Nanako looked around worriedly, but then she seemed to perk up, running over to the kitchen counter. 

“Here! Daddy forgot the bento you made him for lunch!” she said, grabbing the invisible bento and jogging back to Yosuke. 

His brain still seemed to be lagging a few steps behind, but Nanako pulled at his wrist that had the bracelet on it until he opened his hand to take the invisible bento box from her. 

“Go, Mommy! You have to catch Daddy before he leaves!” Nanako encouraged, going behind Yosuke and pushing his butt so he would move forward. 

“Have to catch Daddy before he leaves,” Yosuke said dazedly, suddenly clutching the bento tightly and moving toward the door. 

“Yay! Go Mommy!” Nanako cheered. 

Yosuke threw the front door open so hard it immediately sprung back, forcing him to flail out of the way and fling the bento box off into the bushes somewhere. He nearly collided with Souji, who didn’t really react to the commotion and was just standing there with his fingertips pressed to his own lips, blushing and looking just as dazed as Yosuke had just felt.

“You meant it, right?” Yosuke asked suddenly, desperate to put the pieces of this puzzle together. “What you said, the second time… You used your truth voice—” 

For some reason, Souji looked extremely guilty, like he had just been caught committing a heinous crime. Still, he maintained eye contact with Yosuke, eventually nodding.

“Yes. I meant it.” 

Souji looked worried, but not a kind of worried Yosuke had ever seen on him before—not the worried he had seen when they were fighting shadows in the TV World, or when Nanako was really sick, or even when Teddie was running at him full speed for a hug. 

Before Yosuke really thought about what he was doing, he wrapped his Partner in a tight hug, one comforting hand on the back of his head, lightly threading through his hair. 

“Yosuke?” Souji said, his voice thin and uncertain. 

“Don’t worry, Partner,” Yosuke said, squeezing Souji even harder as the puzzle finally all came together in his mind. “Y’know, when you kissed me on the cheek, I was disappointed.” 

“I’m sorry,” Souji quickly blurted out. “I shouldn’t have—”

Yosuke shook his head and pulled back to look at Souji. “You said you loved me, so I thought you were gonna kiss me for real. I was disappointed that you didn’t because, well…” 

While Yosuke paused to gather his courage, Souji’s concerned gaze frantically darted between Yosuke’s eyes and his mouth and his arms that were still wrapped around him.

Mirroring what Souji had done before, Yosuke delicately cupped Souji’s cheek, and in his best truth voice, he said softly, “Because I love you too.”

Souji’s conflicted expression faded away and was instantly replaced by the loveliest, warmest smile Yosuke had ever seen. 

“I don’t want you to be disappointed,” Souji said, biting his bottom lip as his gaze fell once again to Yosuke’s lips. 

Thankfully, Souji quickly overcame his moment of hesitation and pressed his lips to Yosuke’s, and Yosuke immediately rewarded him by kissing him back enthusiastically.

It turned out that Yosuke was right to be disappointed by that first kiss on the cheek, because kissing his Partner—_really _ kissing his Partner—was the least disappointing thing that had ever happened to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I’ll just reply to lod’s comment with a little blurb about how I think this scenario would go.  
Also me: ONE THOUSAND WORDS LATER
> 
> But yeah, hope you enjoyed this bonus chapter!


End file.
